01
The Ruling Class
Why this pick
A ferocious, theatrical British satire in which mental illness and social respectability collide, balancing outrageous comedy with a genuinely unsettling edge.
A FILM WORTH A CLOSER LOOKTHE FEATURE PRESENTATION
MOVIE1964 1h 34m USA
IF THIS ONE STAYED WITH YOU
Movies like
Shock Treatment
Comedy
CINEHUNCH / THE NEXT FRAME
Keep the feeling.
SIMILAR PICKS / A PERSONAL CONNECTION
If you loved Shock Treatment, try these.
01
02
A Fine Madness
Why this pick
This brisk, mordant comedy turns involuntary psychiatric treatment into a battle of wills, with the same sympathy for a disruptive outsider and suspicion of authority.
03
The Hospital
Why this pick
Its caustic institutional satire and increasingly bleak comic tone echo Shock Treatment’s interest in the madness beneath supposedly rational medical systems.
04
The Loved One
Why this pick
Another sharply stylized mid-1960s black comedy, it finds grotesque humor in an institution built around death and treats respectable rituals with cheerful cruelty.
05
King of Hearts
Why this pick
This whimsical but pointed fable reverses ideas of sanity and normality, pairing period charm with the anti-authoritarian spirit behind Shock Treatment.
Finding the atmosphere, tension and little details that made this one stay with you.
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01 / THE STORY
A little about the film.
Martin Ashley , a mentally ill gardener, decapitates his boss, the wealthy Mrs. Townsend, with a pair of garden shears. He subsequently turns himself in to the police, is found insane, and is sent to a mental institution ruled by psychiatrist Edwina Beighley.
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02 / FACES IN THE FRAME
The people who bring it to life.
Stuart Whitman
Dale Nelson / Arthur
Roddy McDowall
Martin Ashley
Lauren Bacall
Dr. Edwina Beighley
Timothy Carey
Hulking patient
Carol Lynley
Cynthia Lee Albright